On Monday, a man with an axe attacked a woman in Leixlip in her home before setting it on fire. The man, her former partner, was out on bail for previously assaulting her when he broke in and attacked her. She managed to escape and is now being treated for serious injuries in hospital. Yesterday morning, there was another vicious attack. A woman who answered her front door in Dublin was doused in petrol and set alight. She is also now in a critical condition and being treated in hospital. These attacks occurred less than 24 hours apart. Their depravity has shocked the country. Both women were attacked in their own homes, where they should have been safest.

They are not the only ones. Every day, all over the country, women endure violence, harassment, assaults and intimidation. Some of them will die because of it. Last week, Stella Gallagher was killed in Cork. At her funeral mass yesterday, her brother-in-law said Ms Gallagher had an inbuilt generosity and was always doing things for others.

These are the stories of just three women in the news on the week of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, one of whom is now dead. If I were to attend any court in any part of the country on any day of the week, I would find more brutality and more tragedy for women who should be leading full and happy lives. There are so many women out there who spend every day trying to make themselves small, invisible even, who are desperate not to say the wrong thing in the wrong tone of voice or with the wrong expression, all so they do not set him off, do not make him angry, do not make him upset. These are women who contribute so much to their families, friends and communities and who are routinely and relentlessly terrorised in their own homes. They are women whose lives are being ruined by controlling, abusive and violent men.

Violence against women is not a women's problem; violence against women is a men's problem. The common denominator when women are attacked is invariably men. This is an issue that will never be fully addressed until more men join the fight against it and call out and report family, friends, colleagues and strangers who belittle, intimidate or insult women.

I raised violence against women here yesterday but I am raising it again today because it is a daily nightmare for tens of thousands of women out there and I was not happy with the answers I received yesterday to my questions. I asked, if this Government really has a zero-tolerance approach to this issue, how does it square that with nine counties not having a refuge space? When will refuge spaces be provided in every county? That is what I asked and I did not get an answer. I also asked if the Government would ensure that women's counselling notes could not be weaponised any more in sexual assault and rape trials. I did not get an answer. Will the Taoiseach answer those questions now?

I could not agree more in terms of the depraved and shocking violence against women in our society on an ongoing basis. It is truly shocking. This is despite the fact that the Government has taken unprecedented actions legislatively to deal with this, including the establishment of an agency, Cuan, which is doing good work. The previous Government established that to deal with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. About €80 million has been allocated to support Cuan and services working to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. That is an increase of €12 million year on year.

However, that on its own will not solve what are more fundamental issues within society itself. The Government has a zero tolerance attitude to this, and we are supporting quite a number of community organisations that support victims and survivors. We will accelerate the delivery of additional refuge spaces and safe accommodation while also providing stronger supports. There is funding for additional safe spaces, with a commitment to provide 282 safe spaces by the end of 2026. I am sure the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and Cuan can provide the Deputy with their timelines for the various centres that need to get done and their development. The Minister is also introducing significant legislative change to allow for the removal of guardianship rights from a person who has been convicted of killing their intimate partner under the proposed Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill and has advanced provisions to limit the disclosure of counselling records in rape and sexual assault cases under the proposed criminal law and civil law Bill 2025. That was agreed some weeks ago by Cabinet. The Minister secured Government approval on 21 October to progress the criminal law (sexual offences, domestic violence and international instruments) Bill. That includes measures to allow perpetrators of domestic violence to be included on a new register run by the courts and strengthen the law on sexual consent. Convictions will be published online by the Courts Service under a specific heading of domestic violence judgment register. This will help people who are in a relationship or considering a relationship with a person to discover whether the person has a history of serious domestic violence convictions. Victims will be required to provide consent before the convicted abuser can be named on the public register. The Minister secured Cabinet approval for the drafting of legislation to address the disclosure of counselling records in sexual offences criminal trials. This will amend the current statutory framework to ensure that judicial oversight governs the disclosure of such records-----

Nobody agrees with that Bill.

-----and that disclosure takes place only when, in the court's opinion, it is necessary to avoid an unfair trial. Drafting is at an advanced stage and is continuing at pace. The Minister will also examine other steps, including additional adjustments to legislation, in order to further restrict the disclosure of counselling records and is consulting with the relevant stakeholders in that regard.

What the Minister proposes to bring forward in relation to people's counselling notes is basically a new version of the status quo. It is that people's counselling notes can be used against them in court. I feel the need to very clearly break this down. We know that the court process retraumatises victims of sexual assault and rape. We know that the percentage of women who get justice for rape is absolutely minuscule as a result of that because people do not want to go to court. What is another way of looking at that? The percentage of people who are convicted is minuscule. That results in people being quite likely to get away with raping somebody. That is the reality. Why is the process traumatising? Let us look at it. One thing is your counselling notes being used against you in a trial. It is despicable. There is one very clear thing this Government could do to try to help the process, to try to make it less hostile towards victims, and that is an outright ban on people's counselling notes being used in court. Will the Government reconsider this?

To be fair to the Minister, he is advancing and working at pace in respect of legislation on the disclosure of counselling-----

It would still be brought into-----

Please, Deputy, let the Minister answer.

I did not interrupt the Deputy. Maybe she should engage with the Minister-----

I did.

-----in an informed and evidence-based way. The Minister will be very open with Opposition spokespeople in dealing with this in the context of what is possible and what is not possible. The Government's view is very strongly supportive of reducing significantly, and seeing how far we can go-----

But still allowing it in courts.

-----in avoiding, the use of counselling notes against victims-----

We do not want it reduced; we want it outlawed.

-----and in terms of other measures the Minister is prepared to consider. More fundamental, however, than all the legislation in the world is a change of culture and approach within society itself.

This is a part of that.

I know the Deputy's job is to criticise the Government and so on, but there are more fundamental issues at stake in terms of violence against women. The Minister has done some research and so on. Universal access to violent pornography, for example, is now emerging as a factor in the level of violence that has been perpetrated against women.

That has been the case for a long time.

Thank you, a Thaoisigh. There will have to be further-----

We need to deal with this collectively.

Maybe you should protect-----

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman is next.